Abstract 16632: Gender Disparities in Use of Cardiologist Care

Introduction: Health plans often use utilization management (UM) criteria to define patients for whom they will reimburse for specific therapies. In addition to clinical requirements, some UM criteria for proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors (PCSK9is) require a cardiologist write the prescription. This study seeks to understand use of cardiologist care by gender and other factors. Methods: Adults with clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and continuous enrollment in medical and pharmacy insurance in 2014 were identified for this cross-sectional study in the MORE2 Registry which includes primary and supplementary data on patient demographics, socioeconomic status, clinical resource utilization, and physician specialty. Logistic regression models, estimated by insurance type (commercial [healthcare exchange vs. not] or Medicare Advantage (MA)) examined patient characteristics thought to be associated with a visit to or a statin and/or ezetimibe (eze) prescription from ...